(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner container that supplies toner to a development unit while being attached to an image forming apparatus such as a photocopier and a printer. The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus comprising such a toner container.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a photocopier and a printer, a development unit develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive drum by using toner. When the toner in the development unit has all been consumed, toner stored in a toner container is supplied to the development unit.
Japanese patent application publication No. 2000-214669 (hereinafter, “Patent Document 1”) discloses a toner container composed of a hollow cylindrical body and a hollow cylindrical replenishing portion that includes a toner outlet, the body and the replenishing portion being rotatably connected to each other via a seal member. The toner container can be directly attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus by the user. Once the toner container has been attached to the image forming apparatus, the body is rotated by the drive means included in the image forming apparatus. As a result, toner stored in the body is conveyed toward the replenishing portion due to rotation of a spiral groove formed in the circumferential wall of the body, and supplied to a developing section via a toner outlet.
An image forming apparatus can use only a specific type of toner depending on its model or the like, which varies between different manufacturers. If an image forming apparatus uses a type of toner that is not compatible with itself, the image forming apparatus may not be able to form a toner image in desired image quality. Using a wrong type of toner may also cause mechanical failures, e.g., deprive a development unit of the developing function. The toner container disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not particularly designed with the above problems taken into account.
Some toner containers are used while being directly attached to image forming apparatuses. Typically, such toner containers are configured in such a manner that they can be attached only to certain image forming apparatuses which can compatibly use toners stored in the toner containers. For instance, it has been proposed to configure (i) a toner container including a toner container identification that protrudes outward from the outer surface of the circumferential wall of the toner container, together with (ii) an image forming apparatus including a container identifier, with which the toner container identification latches when attaching the toner container to the image forming apparatus. With the presence of the toner container identification that protrudes outward, such a toner container cannot be attached to an image forming apparatus that does not include a container identifier with which the toner container identification can latch. This method can prevent an image forming apparatus from using a type of toner that is not compatible with the image forming apparatus.
However, as the toner container identification of the toner container protrudes outward, there is a possibility that the toner container identification may be partially or entirely removed. If the toner container identification is partially or entirely removed, the toner container could be attached to an image forming apparatus to which it is not supposed to be attached, with the result that this image forming apparatus has to use a type of toner that is not compatible with itself. This may cause mechanical failures in the development unit and the like.